REPORT TITLE:
Nonresident Gun Possession


DESCRIPTION:
Allows nonresident aliens to bring firearms into the State under
certain conditions.  (HB500 CD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        500
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 3
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            C.D. 1
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO FIREARMS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that Hawaii is widely
 
 2 recognized as a community relatively free of violence involving
 
 3 firearms.  The legislature further finds that this low rate of
 
 4 violence is attributable to our strict controls on the possession
 
 5 and use of firearms within our State.  However, the legislature
 
 6 recognizes that there is a need to expand our visitor industry by
 
 7 developing niche markets, such as recreational hunting, that
 
 8 would encourage visitors who may want to enjoy Hawaii's optimal
 
 9 climate and scenic landscapes while also engaging in legal
 
10 recreational firearms activities.
 
11      The purpose of this Act is to allow nonresident aliens who
 
12 are visiting the State for the purposes of engaging in
 
13 recreational target shooting or game hunting to be allowed to
 
14 bring legal firearms into the State under certain conditions for
 
15 such limited purposes.
 
16      SECTION 2.  Section 134-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
17 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 
18      "(a)  Every person arriving in the State who brings or by
 
19 any other manner causes to be brought into the State a firearm of
 

 
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                                                        S.D. 1
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 1 any description, whether usable or unusable, serviceable or
 
 2 unserviceable, modern or antique, shall register the firearm
 
 3 within three days after arrival of the person or of the firearm,
 
 4 whichever arrives later, with the chief of police of the county
 
 5 of the person's place of business or, if there is no place of
 
 6 business, [such] the person's residence or, if there is neither a
 
 7 place of business nor residence, the person's place of sojourn[;
 
 8 provided that no].  A nonresident alien [shall be allowed to] may
 
 9 bring firearms [a firearm of any description into the State.] not
 
10 otherwise prohibited by law into the State for a continuous
 
11 period not to exceed ninety days; provided that the person meets
 
12 the registration requirement of this section and the person
 
13 possesses:
 
14      (1)  A valid Hawaii hunting license procured under chapter
 
15           183D, part II, or a commercial or private shooting
 
16           preserve permit issued pursuant to section 183D-34;
 
17      (2)  A written document indicating the person has been
 
18           invited to the State to shoot on private land; or
 
19      (3)  Written notification from a firing range or target
 
20           shooting business indicating that the person will
 
21           actually engage in target shooting.
 
22 The nonresident alien shall be limited to a nontransferable
 
23 registration of not more than ten firearms for the purpose of the
 

 
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 1 above activities."
 
 2      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 3 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 4      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.